Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury (known as Kamal Chowdhury; born 31 December 1957) is a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

poet and a member of the

Bangladesh Civil Service Bangladesh Civil Service ( bn, বাংলাদেশ সিভিল সার্ভিস ), more popularly known by its acronym BCS, is the civil service of Bangladesh. Civil service in the Indian subcontinent originated from the Imperial ...

. He was the Chief Coordinator of the National Implementation Committee for the Celebration of ''Mujib Borsho'', the Birth Centenary of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengalis, Beng ...

, the founding father of Bangladesh. He is a former Principal Secretary of the

Prime Minister of Bangladesh The Prime Minister of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের প্রধানমন্ত্রী, translit=Bangladesher Prodhanmontri), officially Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজা� ...

. He is mostly known for his works on literature, especially poetry. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2011 for his contributions to Bengali poetry and Ekushe Podok 2022 for his contributions to Bengali language and literature.

Early life and education

Chowdhury was born on 31 December 1957, in Vijaykara village of

Chauddagram Upazila Chauddagram ( bn, চৌদ্দগ্রাম) is an upazila of Cumilla District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh. It also a Municipality under Cumilla District. History This Chauddagram area was very dear to md osman bhuiyan of kai ...

Comilla District Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, is a district of Bangladesh located about 100 kilometres south east of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to t ...

. He is the second among six children of Ahmad Hossain Chowdhury and Begum Tahira Hossain. In 1973, he passed

Secondary School Certificate The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) or Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC), Matriculation examination, is a public examination in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan conducted by educational boards for the successful completion of the seco ...

from Gaidyanil High School in

Narayanganj District Narayanganj District ( bn, নারায়ণগঞ্জ, Narayoṇgonj) is a district in central Bangladesh which is a part of the Dhaka Division. It is home to the ancient city of Sonargaon and is one of the oldest industrial districts in the ...

and

Higher Secondary School Certificate The Higher Secondary School Certificate is a secondary qualification in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Higher Secondary Education The Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education in Bangladesh recognises "Higher Secondary Education" und ...

from

Dhaka College Dhaka College ( bn, ঢাকা কলেজ also known as DC) is the oldest secular educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhaka. It offers higher secondary education ( HSC). It has Honours and Masters programs as well which are aff ...

in 1975. Then he studied sociology at

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

and received Bachelor's and master's degree. In 2000, he completed

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in anthropology at the retirement of government jobs. The subject of his PhD dissertation is 'Matrutulan Rasa tradition of Garo people'.

Working life

In 1982, Kamal Chowdhury took up the job as a member of the Bangladesh Civil Service. After serving jobs in different positions in 2010, he was promoted as Secretary of the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

. While being additional secretary of the

Ministry of Information (Bangladesh) The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ( bn, তথ্য ও সম্প্রচার মন্ত্রণালয়) (abbreviated as MoIB) is a branch of the Government of Bangladesh and is the apex body for formulation and administ ...

, he was appointed as Acting Secretary of the same ministry. Afterwards, he served as Secretary of Information for some time. From 2010 to 2014 he was the Secretary of

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. After that, he served as the Secretary of the

Ministry of Public Administration The Ministry of Public Administration () (abbreviated as MoPa) is primarily responsible for management of public administration in Bangladesh. Present minister is Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Minister of State is Farhad Hossain. Present Senior secre ...

from March 2014. At this time, he was promoted as the Senior Secretary of the Government. After retiring from work in late 2016, he was appointed as the Principal Secretary of

. He also represented Bangladesh at the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Executive Board for the term 2014–2017. On 22 January 2022, Chowdhury was awarded the

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak ( bn, একুশে পদক; lit. "Twentyfirst Award") is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contribut ...

, the second most important award for civilians in Bangladesh. Kamal Chowdhury at Dhaka Lit Fest 2017

Publications

Kamal Chowdhury's first poetry book was published in the year 1981. The list of his poetry books are: * Michhiler Shoman Boyoshi (As Old as the Procession), 1981 *Ae Poth Ae Kolahol, 1993 * Asheci Nejer Vore, 1995 * Ae Meg Biduthe Vora, 1997 * Duli O Sagor Drisho, 2000 * Rod Brishti Antomil, 2003 * He Mati Prithibiputro, 2006 * Premer Kobita, 2008 * Panthoshalar Ghora, 2010

wards

* * *

Bangla Academy Literary Award The Bangla Academy Literary Award ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি সাহিত্য পুরস্কার; ''Bangla Academy Shahitya Puroshkar''), is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius i ...

(2011) * Ekushe padak(2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Kamal 1957 births Living people University of Dhaka alumni Recipients of Bangla Academy Award Bengali-language writers Bangladeshi male poets Best Lyricist National Film Award (Bangladesh) winners Recipients of the Ekushey Padak